


Flames

by hunters_retreat



Series: Further Interruptions [22]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Living in Aerugo, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-26 02:42:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16673203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: Ed buried himself in Tate, because it was easier to forget Mustang when he was inside Tate’s welcoming body.  Tate deserved better, but so had Ed, and at least this he could have.





	Flames

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by Kzellr.

“Have you ever thought about it?”

“About what?” Ed asked.

“Going home?”

Ed turned onto his back to look up at the brunette beside him.  Tate didn’t look upset, just curious.  He was about to transfer back to Amestris now that his assignment in Aerugo was done.  He’d never mentioned it to Ed before, but Ed thought the diplomat wanted more than the casual relationship Ed had been able to give him.  It was hard to think of the permanent when he’d always known Tate was going to leave.

“Home is Al,” Ed replied.  “Amestris was just the place we lived in.”

“Come on, Ed,” Tate said as he absently brushed a stray hair back from Ed’s face.  Ed pushed his hand away and sat up. 

Tate sighed.  “There had to have been people there you cared about.  People you missed?”

Ed pulled his ponytail loose and quickly redid it so that any stray hairs were caught back.  He moved to the edge of the bed and began to look for his clothes.

“Ed, you don’t have to go.”

Ed let out a deep breath.  “Maybe I should.  You want something more, Tate.”

“We both knew what this was when it started, Ed,” Tate scooted up behind Ed and rested his chin on Ed’s shoulder.  “The more I know of you the more I want, though.  I don’t think that should be such a surprise.  You’re an amazing person.” He pressed a kiss to Ed’s shoulder.  “And you’re really funny,” he said with a kiss to his neck.  “And you’re really good in bed.”

Ed laughed at that and he felt Tate smile into his skin. 

“I can still come see you once I’m in Amestris.  Maybe I’ll ask for a transfer to West City after I get back.  Then it wouldn’t be hard to come visit.”

And Ed knew he meant it.  He just wasn’t sure it would work out in the long run.  He wasn’t sure he wanted to get Tate’s hopes up, or his own. 

Because Tate was this amazing guy.  He was smart and funny and he was handsome. But Tate was a career military man, through and through.  Ed heard him talking about numbers, not people, when they discussed the loss of lives over the past decade of Amestris warmongering.  Tate was funny, but sometimes his humor was too biting and though they bantered, it was a tad too sharp on topics that Tate didn’t know to tread lightly on.

Because Ed still hadn’t told him who he was.  Tate thought he was just an Amestrian living abroad.  He didn’t know that Ed outranked him.  He didn’t know that he was there on a mission.  He didn’t know that Ed worked for and had known the people that he wanted to be introduced to.  He didn’t know how complicated his relationship was with the people whose careers Tate wanted to emulate.   

“I’m just a battered-up interpreter,” Ed said to placate Tate.  “I’m sure there are plenty of guys in Amestris that could give you what you want.”

Tate pulled Ed down onto the bed and he let him. 

Tate had no idea what Ed was capable of.  He treated Ed like he was fragile, because Ed wore automail on two limbs.  He treated Ed like he was broken.  He didn’t accept the automail as part of Ed.  He didn’t know that Ed had defeated chimeras and would-be gods and alchemists hellbent on taking the lives of every person in Amestris. 

Sometimes Ed liked being treated like he might break. 

Sometimes Ed felt like he might break from being treated like that.

“Ed, no one in Amestris can give me what you can,” Tate said as he pressed a kiss to Ed’s lips. 

It was chaste, just a press of affection to his lips, but Ed could feel the desire for more rising between them already. 

“I don’t know about that,” Ed answered.

“I do,” Tate said as he cupped Ed’s cheek but he was careful to make sure his fingers didn’t brush Ed’s hairline at all.  His thumb caressed Ed’s face and Ed closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 

“Just think about it, Ed,” Tate whispered against his lips.  “We could be really good together.”

Tate was this great guy, and Ed enjoyed the time with him but something always held him back. 

And it wasn’t his brother’s disapproval.

Alphonse didn’t like Tate.  Ed understood his reasons, even if they were all bullshit.  Tate was nothing like … that.  Neither was their relationship.

Tate was amusing and relaxing.  Their conversations were fun and light, rarely touching on things like politics and work.  Tate never asked about his scars and he left them alone.

Ed was okay with that.  If sometimes, he missed the way Roy had given each of them reverent attention, if he missed the way Roy had kissed and touched his automail as if it were flesh, he knew there was a tradeoff.  He and Tate had no shared trauma.  There was no past covered in blood and transmutation marks.  Ed could be whoever he wanted and he decide how much of Ed’s past that Tate learned.

He never looked at Alphonse like he was an abomination the way Roy had the first time they’d met.  But he would never look at Alphonse the same way Mustang had the first time he’d seen him flesh and blood either.

“You really think you could put up with me all the time?” Ed asked.

Tate smiled.  “I think I’d like the chance to try.”

Ed nodded.  It wasn’t a commitment but it was something to think about.  “I haven’t been to Amestris in almost two years.  I guess I wouldn’t mind visiting every so often.  If there was someone worth visiting.”

Tate smiled down at him and Ed pulled him close for a kiss.  He pushed up then and rolled Tate onto his back. 

“Guess you decided against going home?” Tate teased from under him.

Ed smiled as he bit lightly at Tate’s lower lip.  “Might as well take advantage of having you close while I can.  Once you move, who knows when I’ll see you next?”

“I promise it won’t be that long,” Tate told him.  “My boss is pretty good about things like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.  General Wagner has always been good about personal time when we need it.”

And Ed didn’t doubt it.  Wagner was an ass who treated his people poorly but kept them in line by giving them extra time off and looking the other way on personal matters.  Ed knew the guy.  He’d tried to take on Mustang a couple years after the Promised Day.  In fact, he’d made some heavy innuendos about Ed back then too.  He’d learned to keep his nose clear of Mustang and his team.

Ed kissed Tate to keep anything from showing on his face.  Tate would probably get pissed if he found out that Ed knew his boss (had almost punched him in the face once).  Which was just another reason to keep that part of his past quiet.

Tate didn’t seem to mind the end of the conversation and Ed let himself fall into his lover.  Ed had taken other lovers before Tate, out of a need to escape his memories or just for unsatisfied desires, but Tate was the only long-term lover he’d had besides Mustang.  They were entirely different relationships, no matter what Al hinted at, and how he felt about Tate was completely different.

He really liked Tate.  He was nice and funny and attractive and Ed could make himself happy with him if he gave him a chance.

The problem was, he still compared him to Roy.  Because Roy had made him feel more than anyone else ever had.  Roy knew him for who he was and what he’d done and he cared for him anyway.  Roy was sharp and cunning and witty.  He was smart enough to keep up with Ed when he talked alchemy and ran circles around Ed when it came to strategy.  He was a fighter through and through and he saw scars as testaments to survival instead of flaws. 

Ed buried himself in Tate, because it was easier to forget Mustang when he was inside Tate’s welcoming body.  Tate deserved better, but so had Ed, and at least this he could have.

When they finished, Ed cleaned them both up.  Tate pulled him back into bed and Ed allowed himself some peace in his lover’s arms.

It wasn’t the life he’d thought he would have, but it could be good just like this, right?

But that night, when he fell asleep, his dreams were of the lick of flames than only one pair of hands could ever control.


End file.
